Hammerson hit on fears of rent defaults by retailers

Growing worries about retailers defaulting on their rent payments made Hammerson, the shopping centre developer, one of the top fallers in a rising FTSE 100.

Hammerson, part owner of the Bull Ring in Birmingham, is likely to have to refinance some debt by the third quarter of next year and the cost of its debt is likely to increase, according to Fitch, which down-graded the group’s rating earlier this week.Hammerson shares, which were £10 two weeks ago, lost 55&frac12;p to 726p.

The FTSE 100 rallied by 201.62 to close at 4,063.01, driven up by short-sellers closing positions and some hedge funds – Lansdowne Partners is said to be one – liquidating postions in FTSE 250 and small cap stocks and moving into the more liquid blue chips.…

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